Commuters stage rail revolt

Police boarded trains today to halt a revolt by passengers over new railway timetables.

British Transport Police travelled on the South West Trains 6.44am Alton to Waterloo service after commuters had warned they would pull the communication cord at Clapham Junction. They are angry the train's scheduled stop at the busy south London station is being axed.

The revolt came as hundreds of thousands of London commuters today faced a massive railway timetable shake-up which will cancel dozens of early train services and cut services at smaller stations. Rail company bosses admit "not everyone" will be happy at the changes, which mean thousands of early-morning commuters must get up even earlier to get to work on time.

Today at Waterloo furious passengers complained about overcrowding caused by smaller trains and slower services.

The changes are designed to ease overcrowding by putting on more trains at the busiest times. The measures includes:

The timetable reform, the biggest in 40 years, is part of an effort to deal with chronic overcrowding of tracks into London, which leads to appalling delays. Longer stops at stations will make the timetable reflect the growing number of people getting on and off at each station.

Stations with fewer services include; Worplesdon, Milford, Witley, Liphook, Liss, Rowlands Castle, Winchfield, Hook and Tisbury.

Gaining extra services are Farnborough, Walton-on-Thames, Weybridge, Fleet, Earlsfield, Wandsworth Town, Queenstown Road, Ewell West, Stoneleigh, Motspur Park, Frimley, Camberley, Bagshot, Wraysbury and Sunnymeads - and all stations on the Hounslow loop.

Today the rail passenger watchdog warned it feared the timetable changes could make overcrowding on some busy trains even worse.

Anthony Smith, director of the Rail Passengers Council, said; "For some passengers, it appears Christmas has come early. From today there will be quicker services or more frequent trains on some routes.

"But there's a stone in the snowball for those passengers who are going to find their regular train is no longer running or their fast train now stops at more stations. Our concern is that where more stops have been packed in, or trains taken out of the timetable altogether, this will lead to more overcrowding on already busy trains."

Among the biggest changes are on South West Trains, which carries 400,000 passengers a day and serves Waterloo. Today its managing director Andrew Haines said: "Of course it has not been possible to give everyone all that they want. While a number of busier stations will gain services, some smaller locations will experience a reduction."

He said the original 1967 timetable "no longer reflects the demands of 2004".

Train bosses say the changes have been forced on them by the growing population of the South-East. South West Trains said the explosion in housebuilding had led to greater demand on its services.

The changes come into force just three weeks before London commuters face inflation busting fare increases of four per cent.